I'm a sucker for the cool, factual British tales of heroism and escape drawn from the Second World War.
The movies in this genre (and the books from which they're drawn) are all very stiff upper lip and all that, but this was real. People really were fighting to save the world from Nazi dictatorship. Backs were up against the wall, fighting off a threat to the entire world far more real than any Iraq could ever pose.
The Wooden Horse is a great example of the genre. This true escape tale, from a book by Eric Williams, details how three British officers escaped from the supposedly escape-proof Stalag Luft 3, the same camp from which the break known as The Great Escape took place.
The camp was designed with all its huts placed so far from the perimeter walls that tunnelling out was all but impossible. Except... what if a wooden vaulting horse was built, placed near the perimeter fence every day for exercise - and while the prisoners vaulted over it, a tunnel was dug underneath it? Sounds far-fetched, but it was done, and this film shows how.
It also traces just how the three escapees - Peter (Leo Genn), John (Anthony Steel) and Phil (David Tomlinson) - made their escape from enemy territory. Well, at least we follow Peter and John on their dangerous journey, as Phil travelled alone, and succeeded as well, but that's another story.
It's great stuff, a sensational tale told in a factual, even unsensational way. There's no need for embroidery when the facts are so remarkable.
Watch for a scene where Peter has a stint in the camp hospital, and meets an Australian prisoner who gives him a few tips on how to gain travel documents for their escape. It's just a brief glimpse, but here's our own Peter Finch in a very early appearance.
The British prisoners really were incorrigible. The Brits were the great escaping nation. I think only one German prisoner ever managed to escape England during the war. But scores of Brits managed to escape from German camps, despite ever more difficult obstacles placed in their path. Perhaps the German prisoners didn't really want to escape. They knew what they'd be going back to...
This vintage (1950) black and white movie has evidently been transferred from a new print, or else from one in top condition. Tonal values, while not outstanding, are high, with good contrast levels - it's just tending more towards a grey scale than the best black and white palettes.
But there's nothing here in the transfer to impede full enjoyment of a rattling good yarn. There's no marked print damage of any kind.
Compared to the image quality, audio is a bit more problematic.
There are very strong volume contrasts between the loudest and softest passages, with volume adjustment needed to listen to very quiet sections of dialogue. Some of the dialogue, while not exactly muffled, has a slightly cavernous quality in its recording.
But there's little hiss or other extraneous artefacts and the slightly difficult nature of the audio is worth persevering with.
I would recommend rental to get a very accurate picture of one of the most remarkable escape tales of the Second World War. Or buy it if, like me, you're drawn to this genre. This is a far more worthwhile movie than the exaggerated, gung-ho dramatisation of 'The Great Escape'. This is how it really was...
